Freestyle 101: Cappadonna (Wu Tang Clan)

Wu Tang Clan fans know Cappadonna as the tenth, and final, official member of the esteemed hip hop collective.

After a chance visit to Wu leader RZA's Staten Island apartment/recording studio during the recording of Wu member Raekwon's 1995 album Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Cappadonna made his debut on "Ice Cream," and "Ice Water," two classics and fan favorites. He went on to record on Ghostface Killah's Ironman and was all over Wu Tang's Forever in 1997, but it wasn’t until 2000's The W that he became an official member of the Clan (meaning, the songs with him no longer listed him as “featuring …”).

In the meantime, he released 1998’s solo effort The Pillage, which was followed by 2001’s The Yin & The Yang and 2003's The Struggle. And before appearing on the Clan’s most recent comeback album 8 Diagrams, Cappa dropped a famous verse on Ghostface Killah’s 2006 Fishscale track "9 Milli Bros," addressing rumors that while the Clan was on hiatus he picked up the slack by driving a taxi cab in New York: "Diggler a.k.a. the Cab Driver / Drop 'em off in the middle of fire / Dirty Island, drag bodies to the Murderland / Knock n*ggas out hurtin' my hand."

In town to promote The Cappatilize Project at The Engine Room in Hollywood, Cappa was joined by touring partner 7th 7ign, who is also managed by Honor Allah of Honor Management. The duo tag-teamed spit some fiery off-the-dome rhymes in classic wild Wu Tang style over a crazy Messiaz beat. Make sure to peep Cappa’s upcoming album Slang Prostitution, dropping this January. And then next up is The Infamous Quran project, an album he is working on with Mobb Deep affiliate Ty Nitty of Infamous Mobb.

Freestyle 101 goes up at 9 a.m. PST (that’s noon over on the east) every Tuesday. If you dig Cappadonna, then check out other Wu Tang family members on Freestyle 101, such as Killah Priest, Trife Da God, Shyheim, Prodigal Sunn, and T.H.U.G. Angelz (a.k.a. Hell-Razah and Shabazz the Disciple). Make sure to tune in next week for M.O.P. affiliate Teflon, followed by Charli 2Na of Jurassic 5, Sunspot Jonz of Living Legends, Killa Sha, MC Lars, Saafir and Thirstin Howl III. Make sure to dig our behind the scenes photos, visit us on MySpace and Facebook, or rant in our Forums.